Jonathan Bacon was shot dead, full-patch Hells Angel Larry Amero seriously wounded, Independent Soldiers member James Raich fled with minor injuries, and 22-year-old Leah Hadden-Watts — whose uncle is the president of the Haney Hells Angel chapter — was shot in the neck and paralyzed on Aug. 14, 2011, outside a Kelowna casino. Police returned to the scene a year later for a forensic review.Photo by
Don Sipos

Exactly one year after a midday gang hit left Jonathan Bacon dead in front of a Kelowna casino, investigators returned to the scene for an intensive forensic examination.

Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit spokesman Sgt. Bill Whalen confirmed the forensic exam occurred Monday. And though tight-lipped, he said police are looking at suspects and the investigation is “progressing.”

Bystanders and downtown diners were stunned on Aug. 14, 2011, as shots cracked outside the Delta Grand Hotel. A metallic-green SUV pulled up behind a white Porsche SUV and one or more gunmen sprayed the Porsche, injuring four, including 36-year-old Hells Angel Larry Amero, and leaving 30-year-old Jonathan Bacon dead.

No charges have been laid, but police are moving forward, Whalen said Tuesday.

He would not indicate how many suspects investigators have, where they are believed to be, who they are connected to, or how the Bacon shooting survivors are doing.

“The investigation is progressing and we are not saying much more than that,” Whalen said.

With Bacon dead, full-patch Hells Angel Amero seriously wounded, 30-year-old Independent Soldiers member James Riach fleeing with minor injuries, and 22-year-old Leah Hadden-Watts — niece of the president of the Haney Hells Angel chapter — shot in the neck and paralyzed that day, anyone betting on heavy retribution would have won big.

In September 2011, gang cops issued a public warning that anyone associated with the Dhak-Duhre group — who had clashed with the Bacons and others while trying to extend their drug-dealing territory in the Fraser Valley and beyond — could be targeted for retaliation.

Later that month Jujhar Khun-Khun, a 24-year-old high-ranking Dhak associate, was sent to hospital critically injured when gunmen fired at his car on a Surrey street.

“As far as the connection to the shooting in Kelowna, I don’t think it’s far-fetched for us to say that yes, that there’s a possibility of some link,” Whalen told reporters at the time.

And on May 31, Dhak-Duhre associate Gurbinder Singh Toor, 35, of Squamish was killed in a hail of bullets as he left his parked vehicle outside the Port Moody Recreation Complex at about 9:30 p.m.

Following the Bacon shooting, Riach was believed to be running for his life in the Okanagan wilderness, a source told The Province at the time. Police won’t comment on his whereabouts now. He was seen entering B.C. Supreme Court in Vancouver in late November 2011, attempting to get his armoured Chevy SUV returned from a proceeds of crime seizure.

Amero was arrested in Montreal on July 11 after an alleged drunk driving crash. The next day the Montreal Journal photographed Amero leaving court, striding confidently in a white tank-top and shorts, muscular and tattooed. The photo is a stark contract to news photos from Kelowna, with Amero lying on the ground breathing through an oxygen mask, blood streaming across his Angel-wing tattoos.

Shortly after the Bacon hit, friends of Leah Hadden-Watts said she was left a quadriplegic. Relatives have declined to comment on her condition.

While Whalen acknowledged that a lengthy forensic exam was completed outside the Delta Grand Hotel Monday, he could not confirm a report that investigators were painstakingly attempting to replicate the scene of the crime with a panoramic photo-view — right down to the same setup of surrounding cars and light conditions — as the shooting a year before.

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